Choice @ Work

Last week there was training on Choice @ work in my office conducted by an institute called Arbinger. After attending this training I am not sure what happened to me I seam to be a changed person. The way I look at things and the perspective I have has changed. This training came at the right time, when I need some change in my life. I really need to thank Mr Senthyil. This is one of the best trainings I have ever had in my life.

Before I tell about the training I would like to tell something about Senthyil (Not an intro about him) the way he presented to the class. Never have I seen such a presentation. No ppt’s for the presentation and still keeping the people in the classroom awake and enthusiastic. I am sure no person in the class would have slept or nor would he have ever left his mind wandering. Senthyil know how to get peoples attention and how to keep the class active. The voice modulation that he has is just amazing. The stories and examples that he gives are just awesome.

Now let me tell you something about the training. A week before the training started we were given a book from Arbinger, its titled “Leadership and Self-Deception”. To be very frank I have never read any book till now. Well I am not talking about technical books. This is the first non technical book that I have read in my life. And the book is so great that I was just hooked to the book. Each chapter is so interesting that when u read that you feel that you need to finish the next chapter and you will be curious to check what is there in the next chapter. I finished maximum chapters before the training.

The training was supposed to start at 9 AM and last till 5 PM but as expected the training started 30 min late. But the time was not wasted by Senthyil. As people were occupying the seats he went and introduced himself to each person. He asked our names and made a note in a piece of paper. At 9:30 AM he started the course. He introduced himself to the room. He was in the Singapore Army and retired as a Major. After that he joined the Arbinger and is currently heading the South East Asia operations. Then after introducing himself, he told each of our names. There were around 25 people for the training and without missing a person he told everyone’s name in the room. I was totally zapped by that. Don’t know how he remembered all these names in less than half hour.

After that he started the course. He was giving his own life experience and examples. I am sure most of the people in the room would be thinking or relating to their own life experience. As the book name suggests the course is not only for people for their leadership, it is for anyone and everyone. This course information can be used in everybody’s normal life. The training is all about how you see people and what you see about them.

If at any time in your life if you get a chance of attending this training DON’T MISS IT. If you miss this training, you are really missing something in your life.

Go ahead and enjoy your life. !!!

Netbeans IDE

It’s been a long time since I have written a blog. I happen to see this contest in Netbeans and was thinking about writing about one of my most userful and efficient IDE - NetBeans.
If there is an opportunity to win 10 point y miss the bus.

I have been using Netbeans for over a year now. I believe the best feature that netbeans has is the support for swings. I have created couple of project as a hobby and have posted it in sourceforge.
http://prabeshb.sourceforge.net/ . This is a very small utility for finding similar word in different files. I was able to make this utility in very short time and with great quality.

Creating application in netbeans is one of the easiest. To create a project click on File > New Project. You can use short cut keys also to create the project Ctrl + shift + N. Once you click on the New Project, a dialogue window opens which contains many options for creating project. There are not only java application that can be created but also web application, mobility, UML, SOA, Ruby, C/C++ etc. To create a java swings application click on the Java category and select the Java Desktop Application menu under the projects section as shown in the project below.




Click on the next button and you can mention the project name and project location. After you enter the project details on click of finish button the base class and the layout is created by netbeans. So you need not worry about creating the layout and initial setting. The design view is displayed as the finish button is clicked. On the right hand side there are many palettes available that can be dragged and dropped. The drag and drop feature is very useful when creating the application. Simply drag the controls and place it where ever you like in the base panel and that will be stuck to that location. You can alter the location of the control by simply dragging the control. The figure below shows the different section for the netbeans IDE.



To run the application I prefer shortcut keys. To run the application you can use the F6 key. As you click the key the classes will start to compile and the output will be popped up. To clean and make a fresh build you can use Shift + F11.

I hope these small tips and quick guide will help you create wonderful desktop application. Do let me know if anyone needs any information or help in creating desktop application. I will be overjoyed to help you. You can write to me at:prabeshb@gmail.com

First long haul

A new car brings all its joys and with it the service plans. I am not sure how many of us have managed to make the 1000 K.M mark in the first month. It is difficult challenge for me. But I have decided not to give up. There are various ways of reaching the 1000 mark. Drive all day, all week. Drive back and forth your home town that’s over 300 KM away. But either of these options may not be feasible until you finish the 1000 mark. Here is what I did--Drive to Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL).

We had our own interests apart from the target KM. We wanted to know the road to BIAL, the distance, the traffic situation and of course see our new international airport. So, we (my brother, my sis-in-law, and me) set out on this city adventure, Oh, yes it was after an awesome lunch that my SIL had prepared for us (I will write about her culinary skills another time, but sssh! don tell her.)

The new airport is a little over 40 KM (I think its 43) from my house so a return trip is 80 to 86 KM. When started from our house at 2:30 PM, took the old madras road and then the KR Puram flyover. At the Hebbal flyover, we took a right turn. DO NOT TAKE THE FLYOVER. That road is OK, it has tons of speed breakers which was nasty. The speed breakers were no match for my Indigo. Not once did the creatively constructed speed breakers touch the base of my car. Awesome clearance. That was good news already. I have heard many complain about road being not approachable, but I don't think I would agree. The road is pretty accessible and with the 3 lane on either side, it does make the driving easier compared to the city driving that we are always frustrated.

There was one common sight on the road to BIAL. The Mahindra LOGAN. There are 100's of them plying in Bangalore as airport cabs. I have heard a lot about Logan and during my research to buy a car I had looked at this one also. Logan has good mileage, and the assumption is that the car gives about 18 km in city conditions. Most of the taxis were from Meru (080-44224422, if you need them) or Easy Cabs (I don't remember this number). They were either green (MERU) or white (Easycab). Some of them, I guess had GPS systems. I did not get a closer look, so I won't confirm. All of them were cruising at a good speed on the way to the airport. But I was stuck at 60 kmph, because "my first service of the car is not over yet". Also cruising along the side of our car were the BMTC's new VOLVO buses. There are special services of the Volvo buses from different part of the city the airport and they were just zooming away.

I kept my speed less than 60 so that my vehicle is available for future also. After an hour of drive we reached the much awaited Bangaluru International Airport. The first impression of the airport was really good. It is a huge and I have read it’s about 2000 Acres. As compared to the old HAL airport this airport has enough space and lots of parking area. There is a separating parking space for buses, city taxis and private vehicles. We drove on the outside the airport. We did not take a closer look at the airport as we did not want to spend time there. We then returned back from the airport and headed towards home. We reached back home by 5:30 PM. The ride to the airport was really too good.

That's all from me now. More later, until then...Take Care!!!

Style Does Matter ...

As promised i was not able to update the Euro scores. Instead I thought to put the widgets so that any one can look at the score rather than me updating daily.

I recently brought a new Tata Indigo CS car. Then it struck me write something about that. I went in search of some good article on Indigo so that anyone who is going in next for that can have a look at this article. Before deciding on this car I have researched and zeroed down to: Maruti SX4, Sokda Fabia, Wagon R, Versa, Esteem, UVA, AVEO.

Then I had to decide what I want. I wanted a luxury vehicle in my budget price of 5 lakhs, a vehicle with boot space, and good leg space for driver seat as well as for the back seater. Then after shortlisting I had zeroed down to TATA INDIGO CS. Just the day before I finalise on the car the petrol prices went up then I made my final decision of going for Diesel car. As the advertisement says “At last style does matter”.

Below is the details/specs for Tata Indigo CS.

Tata Motors has cut down the overall length of existing Indigo to avail the tax benefits of small car for the Indigo CS. Tata Motors dubs the new Indigo CS as the "World's most compact sedan".

It has two engine variants - 1.2 litres petrol and 1.4 litres diesel. Both are available in 2 variants. The petrol variant of CS is equipped with a multi-point fuel injection engine powered by a 32bit microprocessor and churns out a maximum power of 65PS @ 5200 rpm. The diesel variant comes with the turbo-charged intercooled engine that generates 70PS @ 4500 rpm. The petrol variants will have beige interiors, while the diesel variants will have black interiors.

In terms of looks - the front is exactly the same like Indica V2, also the instrument cluster and interior design has been picked as it is from Indica. But at the rear Tata's job has worked wonders! It has new rear bumper and new tail light cluster which looks quite good and small boot is looking great in comparison to other indigo models. Now the boot looks a part of the car - not a add on!

It is true value for money sedan but the quality issues are still same like other Tata vehicles. Plastic quality is very cheap, fit and finish is poor, wide panel gaps and inferior quality fabric on seats and door panels. The base versions are somewhat avoidable - with black colored bumpers and no Power Steering. There are no power windows - even in top version also!! No steering adjustment! The only reason to buy Indigo CS is that the range starts from 4.50 lakhs on road price for petrol and for diesel its 5.11 lakhs on road.
ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS:

Displacement:1396cc, TDi Engine Type:Diesel Maximum Power:70bhp@4500rpm Maximum Torque:135Nm@2500rpm

DIMENSIONS:

Length:3988 mm Width:1620 mm Height:1540 mm

OTHER SPECIFICATIONS:

Seating Capacity:5 Tyre Size:175/65 R14 Suspension:Independent McPherson Strut Turning Circle:5.00 Boot Space:380.00 Steering:No Power Steering Brakes:Front Disk, Rear Drum Gears:5 Manual Ground Clearance:165.00 Kerb Weight:1065.00 Fuel Tank:42.00

Euro 2008

My Interest

Hi..
Most of my blogs were related to technology. For a change let me write about something that’s happening now. The EURO 2008. I will try to put in the updates daily of the match -- IF POSSIBLE DAILY.... :-)
Most of the matches till now were not very exciting. They are mostly one sided or a boring game. There was one match which was really good, Romanian Vs France. Without Thierry Henry France side was looking very dull. Romanian gave a good fight but the match ended in draw.
Today's match is Czech Republic Vs Portugal. Well my bet is on Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo is in good form and is sure to make an impact in this Euro.

The other match of the day is the Swiss Vs Turkey. Well not an interesting match but Swiss has got the home side advantage. The current group position is as below.

Group A					Group B
Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts		Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts
Portugal	1	2	3		Germany	1	2	3
Czech Republic	1	1	3		Croatia	1	1	3
Switzerland	1	-1	0		Austria	1	-1	0
Turkey	1	-2	0		Poland	1	-2	0
Group C					Group D
Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts		Teams	Pld	+/-	Pts
Netherlands	1	3	3		Spain	1	3	3
France	1	0	1		Sweden	1	2	3
Romania	1	0	1		Greece	1	-2	0
Italy	1	-3	0		Russia	1	-3	0
Key:
Pld	Matches played
+/-	Goal difference
Pts	Points

Using terminal services

When i was working on my new project i had a very good onsite coordinator who was teaching us each and every parts of the project very well and in details. It was little funny at the start when we had him explaining each and every part very carefully and in details just like spoon feeding a small child.

But it was very useful session that we had. He taught us how to use terminal services. At first when we heard about terminal services we did not understand what it was. We were using windows XP. So when someone says terminal services we were shocked.
Hold on before i go further you must be wondering whom am i saying we we we... Well its just a small team from India with Pradeep and myself. Pradeep is a good expert in technology.When i say technology its not specific technology. Any new technology to be learned he learns very fast not only that he can learns he does lots of R&D in the new stuffs.

Okay now about terminal services:
When we heard about terminal services we thought that it was something great and tough. But the way our onsite coordinator took the class we were just amazed. The onsite coordinator(Jon Aquilio) one of the best person to teach freshers about any technology. He taught the usage of terminal service very perfectly.

Terminal services is nothing but using Remote desktop in windows XP. To open the remote desktop dialog click on start > programs > accessories > communications > Remote Desktop Connection. In the dialog enter the IP address or system name of the system that you would like to connect. Remember that you can connect to systems that have windows flavour. You will not be able to connect to a Unix/Linux box.
After you enter the IP address/system name click on connect button. This will take you to a screen that will ask for username and password. The username and password of the system you would like to connect. After logging you will be able to see the desktop of the machine you are connecting. You will be able to work on that system very similar to the way you work in you desktop. The only difference is that the other system is little slowers that your normal desktop.
Once you have used the other system dont just close the window. You will be have to logoff from that system. To log off click on the start button and select log off user. This will log off you from that machine and someone else will be able to connect to that system.
Thats it. Now you know how to use terminal services. :-)
yahooooooooooooooooo!!! and i have a satisfaction that i taught someone. If you find any information on this article not correct please let me know so that i can change those and let others who read be updated with the right knowledge.
- Cheers be happy and live happy. :-)

input type="image" submit's the form

When we have a input type="image" inside a form then that image link can be used to submit the form. No need to write seperate onclick function to submit the form.

This can happen only for input type="image". It does not apply to img src="".....
Need to take extra care when using input type="image". Or else form will be submitted.

Dynamically adding text box in JSP

You can dynamically add text box on runtime when you click on add Button.
Assume you need to create a text box and on run time when you click on add button.
Create a for loop around the text box and on click of the add button increment the for loop condition variable.
for Example.

for(int i=0;i<=count;i++){
text box code.....
}

Add Button.(onClick="javascript:reloadPage();");

when the add button is clicked in the javascript code resubmit to the page.
On top of the page in scriptlet have a variable called count initialise to 1.
for Example: int count = 1;
When the page reloads increment the count with 1. like count++;
Now the count will be 2 and in forloop 2 text box will be created.
If u need the value of the 1st text box to retain. Take that value in request and reassign to the text box.
For text box have the variable as textbox<%=i%>
So each time the loop comes it will create dynamic text box.

System.out.println OR out.println

When u get any error in JSP this first step to find the problem is to give System.out.println(If you want to see the output in console) OR you can use out.println(If you want to see the output in the screen itself). Try to give as much as possible.
Right click on the jsp you might get a null pointer exception in the view source.

Shortcut debug technique for developers in JSP/JAVA

I have intended to start this blog as a first step to get my thought on the web. There are many ways to debug an application. Many of them have their own style. I intend to put some of my ways of debugging. I am not sure if this will help you to solve your problem. But just give it a try may be its saves your time.:-)